Diffuser construction



Aug. 1, 1961 c. N. ODAY DIFFUSER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 29, 1958 fipa... .w mil w mi United States Patent 2,994,259 DIFFUSER CONSTRUCTIONCortland N. ODay, Port Washington, NY. (Air Devices Inc., 185 MadisonAve, New York, NY.) Filed Sept. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 763,871 11 Claims.(Cl. 98-40) The present invention is particularly directed to airdiffuser outlets and is more specifically directed to antismudge airdiffuser outlets.

It has been found that the air diffusers and particularly air diffuseroutlets and in general air inlet and outlet connections which may bepositioned in the walls or ceiling of a room, oflice, chamber orenclosure, tend to result in deposition of smudge streaks or areasadjacent to the diffuser where dirt or grime is deposited upon theceiling or wall.

The difliculty is greatly increased with air conditioning outlets whichdeliver a relatively high volume of air at velocities and at temperatureconditions which are quite different from those in the enclosure intowhich the air is delivered and which also cause turbulence or result ina vigorous stirring action in the room or enclosure in order to obtainthorough mixing of the incoming air and the air already within the roomor enclosure.

To avoid frequent and expensive cleansing operations as applied to thewalls and the ceilings and also to avoid the necessity of redecoratingthe room or enclosure too frequently, it has been customary to utilizelarge superficial smudge rings which not only give an undesirableappearance to the air conditioning installation but also tend merely tospread the smudge formation over a wider area.

It has now been found that the deposition of smudge takes place becauseof the formation of small minute circular eddy currents in a verticalplane adjacent to abrupt changes in direction when the air passes fromthe face of the diffuser onto or adjacent to the wall or ceiling and ithas further been found that if the direction of change of air stream canbe maintained so that the angle will be less than and desirably between3 to 9, with an optimum at 6 or 7, the smudge is not deposited and thesmall vertical eddy currents do not result.

It is among the objects therefore of the present invention to provide anovel air diffuser outlet which will be of relatively simpleconstruction eliminating abrupt changes of air direction in the passagefrom the face of the diffuser onto the ceiling or wall.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel smudgeprevention diffuser which will eliminate smudge formation upon a ceilingor wall and which may be readily installed without difiiculty andWithout smudge rings.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactoryto cause the outcoming air to flow from the diffuser toward the ceilingat an angle of between 2 to 10 and desirably at an angle of about 6 to7.

The air preferably flows through the diffuser and the outer diffuserfaces should be in the plane of the angle of attack of the air streamupon the ceiling.

The outmost plate of the diffuser should contact the ceiling andsubstantially and without abrupt break or bead so that the air will flowat said 6 or 7 angle from the face of the diffuser onto the ceilingwithout any crevices or recesses tending to form vertical eddy currentsbetween the air stream and the ceiling line particularly at the junctionthereof.

Desirably the outer flange which contacts the ceiling of the diffusershould contact the outwardly peripherally flowing air for a majorportion of its travel across the face of the diffuser so that thesurface characteristics of the outer flange will determine the roll andcharacter of the flow of the uppermost film of air or the film of airwhich is most closely adjacent to the diffuser and the ceiling face.

The invention may be applied to either square or round diffusers and toa wide variety of shapes and forms of diffusers so long as the 6 to 7principle is employed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the in- Mention consistsof the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts ashereinafter will be more specifically described, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention,but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modificationscan be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereuntoappended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a transverse section of a typical diffuser of either round orsquare cross-section.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of a circular diffuser.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a rectangular or square diffuserembodying the principal of the diffuser of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an inlet sleeve 10 which isconnected to an interior conduit (not shown) of an air conditioning or aventilating system.

The sleeve in which may receive a damper and which may be of circular orrectangular cross-section has an outwardly extending flange 11, a bevel12, a further horizontal plane 13, a main oblique surface or face 14 anda vertical peripheral flange 15.

At the terminal portion of the vertical plane 15 is attached the airdirection flange 16 which has a horizontal or straight portion 17 and aslightly inclined portion 18 joined at the point 19.

The flange 16 should serve as a major contact direction face for thepheriphery outflowing air 20 and it should conduct this air to theceiling face 21 at an angle of 6 to 7 and without break at the junctionpoint 22.

The outermost film of air will flow as indicated by the arrows 23, 24,25, 26 and 20, to take up the 7 angle under guidance of the face 18 ofthe flange 16.

There will be abrupt changes of direction at 27 and 26 but these willnot effect the most exterior film 20 in the smooth flow along theoblique flange portion 16..

The flange 11 will also carry by the S-shaped brackets 35 theintermediate annular plate 36. 1 The brackets 35 have the outwardlydirected legs 36 spot welded to the flange 11 and the inwardly directedlegs 37 spot welded to the flange 38 of the plate 36. The flange 38 hasthe downwardly curved peripheral portion 39 and then has an outwardlyextending flange with a horizontal portion 40 and a sloping portion 41terminating in the bead 42.

The flange 41 is positioned in the same plane and is flush with theflange portion 18 so that it will guide an additional film of air at the7 angle, as indicated by the arrows 43 and 44.

Closing the central opening 50 is the disk plate 51 also having theupwardly sloping faces or flanges 52 aligned with and flush with theflange face 18 so as to aid in the direction effect upon the upwardlyflowing exterior film of air 20. a

This disk 51 is held in position by the rivets or bolts 53 V 3 l and thespacing sleeves 54 which are mounted at 55 on the flange 38 or thebrackets 37.

The disk 51 will cause a flow, as indicated by the arrows 56 and 57. VThe principal flow of air will take place according to the directionindicated by the arrows 26 while a supplemental flow will take place, asindicated'by the arrows 57, but the essential factor is that the flange41 and 18 will direct the exterior outwardly peripherally flowing airstreamed smoothly without a change in direction of more than 6 to 7.

By having this smooth transition at the contact point 22 and byproviding that the exterior air stream will be guided a major part bythe surface 18 and in a minor part by surface 41 a smooth exteriorlaminar flow will be obtained even though the balance of the flow fromthe diffuser downwardly into the room or enclosure causes theturbulence, which is desirable to achieve thorough mixing of the air.

The elimination of smudging will take place without smudge rings andwithout effecting the smooth flow and thorough distribution and mixingof the incoming air with the room air.

By this relatively simple shaping of the diffuser it has been possiblefor the applicant to achieve an altogether novel diifuser elfect whichwill give smooth distribution incoming ventilating or conditioning ofair with elimination of smudging.

While there has been herein described a preferred form of the invention,it should be understood that the same may be altered in details and inrelative arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claims.

- Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. An air distribution outlet for mounting in a ceiling or wall of thetype having three superimposed dished plates with the uppermost platehaving an upwardly extending upwardly domed portion recessed into theceiling with an outwardly upwardly sloping peripheral portion encirclingthe intermediate plate, with the intermediate plate being positionedinside of said peripheral portion and also having an upwardly domedcentral portion extending upwardly toward the domed portion of theuppermost plate and with an outwardly upwardly sloping peripheralportion inside of said peripheral portion of the uppermost plate andwith the lowermost plate being of a shallow downwardly dished contourpositioned inside of the peripheral portion of the intermediate plate,comprising a plurality of superimposed disked downwardly convex outletplates, an air inlet connection supporting said plates and feeding airtransversely to said plates, said air flowing down toward said platesand then outwardly over plates, said superimposed plates having aplurality of outwardly and upwardly straight inclined non-curved peripheral guiding surfaces for guiding the air outwardly toward theceiling or wall at an angle of more than two degrees but less than 10incidental thereto said peripheral surfaces being positioned in a commoninclined plane extending from the ceiling and through each of saidperripheral guiding surfaces and said common inclined plane consistingof a shallow inverted dished surface in which the outer lower surfacesof the peripheral portions of the uppermost and intermediate plates arepositioned and in which the lower outer surface of the lowermost plateis positioned.

2. An air distribution outlet for mounting in a ceiling or wall of thetype having three superimposed dished plates with the uppermost platehaving an upwardly extending upwardly domed portion recessed into theceiling with an outwardly upwardly sloping peripheral portion encirclingthe intermediate plate, with the intermediate plate being positionedinside of said peripheral portion and also having an upwardly domedcentral portion extending upwardly toward the domed portion of theuppermost plate and with an outwardly upwardly sloping peripheralportion inside of said peripheral portion of the uppermost plate andwith the lowermost plate being of a shallow downwardly dished contourpositioned inside of the peripheral portion of the intermediate plate,comprising a plurality of superimposed disked downwardly convex outletplates, an air inlet connection supporting said plates and feeding airtransversely to said plates, said air flowing down toward said platesand then outwardly over plates, said superimposed plates having aplurality of outwardly and upwardly straight inclined non-curvedperipheral guiding surfaces for guiding the air outwardly toward theceiling or wall at an angle of more than two.

degrees but less than 6 to 7 incidental thereto said peripheral surfacesbeing positioned in a common inclined plane extending from the ceilingand through each of said peripheral guiding surfaces and said commoninclined plane consisting of a shallow inverted dished surface in whichthe outer lower surfaces of the peripheral portions of the uppermost andintermediate plates are positioned and in which the lower outer surfaceof the lowermost plate is positioned.

3. The outlet of claim '1, said outermost plate of said superimposedplates constituting a major guide and said innermost plate and saidinner plates being flush with air in the same plane as said outermostplates.-

4. The outlet of claim; 1, said outermost superimposed plate blendinginto the ceiling surface without break or abrupt depression.

5. In a diffuser contraction, of the type having three superimposeddished plates with the uppermost plate having an upwardly extendingupwardly domed portion recessed into the ceiling with an outwardlyupwardly sloping peripheral portion encircling the intermediate plate,with the intermediate plate being positioned inside of said peripheralportion and also having an upwardly domed central portion extendingupwardly toward the domed portion of the uppermost plate and with anoutwardly upwardly sloping peripheral portion inside of said peripheralportion of the uppermost plate and with the lowermost plate being of ashallow downwardly dished contour positioned inside of the peripheralportion of the intermediate plate, a plurality of superimposed dishedplates having outer peripheral downwardly dished por.

tions and inner upwardly curved portions, said plates beingsubstantially in the plane of ceiling but depending from the plane ofceiling, the outer and lower faces of the plates being substantially inan oblique shallow dished surface inclined at a shallow angle of 5 to 10to the ceiling and the lower outside peripheral portions all beingpositioned in the same surface and the uppermost and outermost platecontacting the ceiling at its outermost periphery, the plates beingcentrally suspended one froml the other and said common inclined planeconsisting of a shallow inverted dished surface in which the outer lowersurfaces of the peripheral portions of the uppermost and inter-mediateplates are positioned and in which the lower outer surface of thelowermost plate is positioned.

6. The construction of claim 5, the outermost uppermost plates beingannular and having central air flow openings and the innermost platecovering the central flow opening.

7. The construction of claim 5, the plates being circular and theirlower outside faces constituting a shallow conical surface ofrevolution.

8. The construction of claim 5, the uppermost plate carrying a centraltransverse inlet conduit and having a flat central interior centralportion receiving and upon which is mounted the outlet end of the inletconduit and having a flat central peripheral portion and Z-shapedbrackets for supporting central plate therefrom, the central platehaving a central flat peripheral portion and vertical posts supportingthe lowermost plate therefrom.

9, A ceiling air diifuser recessed into the ceiling and having a centralvertical axis and having three superimposed dished plates including anuppermost outermost plate, an intermediate plate and a lowermost plate,the uppermost plate having an upwardly domed central portion with a flatcentral portion transverse to said axis and an outwardly and upwardlysloping uppermost peripheral portion extending along and adjacent to theceiling from the lower outer edge of the upwardly domed central portion,a central inlet air conduit positioned along and on said axis and joinedand attached at its lower outlet end to said flat central transverseportion, the intermediate plate being positioned inside of and at aboutthe level of the uppermost peripheral portion, and having a centralupwardly dished portion extending upwardly toward the domed portion ofthe uppermost plate and having an outwardly and upwardly sloping shallowdished peripheral portion inside of the peripheral portion of theuppermost plate and a lowermost shallow downwardly dished centrallowermost plate substantially at but slightly below the level of theperipheral portion of the intermediate plate and positioned inside ofthe peripheral portion of the intermediate plate, and means suspendingthe intermediate plate from the uppermost plate and the lowermost platefrom the intermediate plate so that the lower surfaces of the peripheralportions of the uppermost and intermediate plates and the lower surfacesof the lower- 6 most plate lie substantially in the same shallowdownwardly dished surface.

10. The diffuser of claim 9, the top of said uppermost plate having awide central opening which is substantially as wide as the outlet endair conduit, the central portion of the intermediate plate having asmaller central opening positioned below the central opening of theuppermost plate and the lowermost plate being devoid of a centralopening and covering the central opening of the uppermost andintermediate plates.

11. The diffuser of claim 9, said last mentioned suspending meansconsisting of Z-shaped brackets extending from the central portion ofthe uppermost plate to the central portion of the inter-mediate plateand also consisting of vertical connection members between the centralportion of the intermediate plate and the outer portions of thelowermost plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,689,906 Corbett Sept. 21, 1954 2,804,007 Kurth Aug. 27, 1957 2,837,990Tutt June 10, 1958 2,852,999 Lowensohn Sept. 23, 1958

